Trimming The Hedges

Today's topic is body hair! Everyone has it, and almost everyone has an opinion of someone else's. I'm 26, and during my childhood around 6th & 7th (age 12) grade was an average time for girls to start shaving their legs. At least that is when I started and I wasn't popular or fashionably on trend despite my self conscious teen heart wanting to be.

Body hair happens as we go through puberty; something that in my body span from age 12 to 21. (no idea why it took what little breasts I have now to come in.... during my 20's) During my bodies puberty, body hair was hush-hush topic. My mothers' lacking confidence and negative talk towards my sister and I's bodies didn't leave me too fond of myself. Being hairless everywhere is a majority western- culture thing! Depending on where you live in the world shaving different parts of your body is a different "norm". The current norm is that leg shaving is pretty popular everywhere. But armpits and pubic regions are debatable depending on how you were raised. For example places like Japan and China often don't shave all their fun places!

I was raised to be a naked mole rat! Not only did I *not* like my body, but now I had to shave the filth that grew out of it. Lucky for me, I didn't have a lot of hair then. I didn't even start shaving my armpits until about 17? I simply didn't have any hair there. But I did have hair "down there". and for the love of all things holy I hurt myself shaving often, many times. and the ITCHING from the razor burn, because I had no idea how to care for my body! Don't even get me started on ingrown hairs.

As I got older, I had a lot more body hair, including facial hair! Yes, I as a woman had dozens of black chin hairs at the age 20. This is due to an imbalance of hormones. Gee thanks body. Learning to love each new change of my body is a ongoing battle. And society says I need to be hairless. "Women can also develop hirsutism, or body hair growth in places where men usually grow it. For instance, a woman with hirsutism might grow a beard or chest hair. The condition is typically caused by a female having an abnormal amount of male hormones. " (hyperlinked where I got that quote)

Biology

So why do humans have hair where we do? For our protection and health mainly. The hair on our head protects us from the sun! The hair on our face like eye lashes/brows and nose hair, prevent dust and foreign debris from entering the mucus membranes of the body. According to how-stuff-works, "Biologically, the areas of thicker hair on humans' underarms and genitals are probably related to sexual selection. Both of those areas are sites of scent-releasing organs called apocrine glands. The odorous chemicals that the glands emit are unique to every person and may help attract members of the opposite sex, like pheromones in other animals." And for at least females, the genital tresses also protect dirt from the entrance of the vagina!

It is also said "that the (armpit/public) hair exists for the purpose of getting soaked in potent mate-attracting pheromones. This initially odorless secretion turns into a musky smell after various microbes have their way with it." Microbes are bacteria that stimulate fermentation

False Rumors

But isn't it more clean to shave "you know where?"

I meaaaaan, in history there are some health benefits, but in the past it was to prevent lice; which is not such an issue these days! Pubic hair was even collected in the 19th century as a token of admiration. Apparently St. Andrews University in Scotland is home of the box of pubes King George IV kept of various women. There are plenty of cultural and religious beliefs on body hair, but as long as you are regularly hygienic with your bathing habits, your armpit is no more clean to have body hair than to not have it. There are even studies to prove that hair pulls the moister away from the body to increase our bodies natural temperature regulation. So less body heat is less sweat, which is less time or odor causing bacteria to live. It is a personal preference.

Hair grows back thicker/ darker when you shave it! False, that's like saying the hair on your head will grow thicker due to a trim. Hair still exists below the skin, in the folic after you shave it. No chemical reaction or change of composition of the hair has been made. This is simply 100% false. It may appear thicker or darker at first though, given that it is shorter, and stubbier. It also lightens up as it is exposed to environmental factors, but its not possible for a razor to change your hair color or thickness. I've shaved my head bald often and the color or density of my hair has never changed, sadly.... Kinda wish it grew back mermaid green!

As for me and my body, I know you're just dying to know... I did my own self love experiment to see how long I could go with out shaving or what part of my body can do without- when I took the plunge and shaved my head bald with St.Baldricks my first time. I made it 6 months of no grooming anywhere, but my face. I found that the hair from my head to my toes, yes my toes, aggressively gets thicker as you go down and my leg hair is the worse. It's very black against my flawless porcelain skin, and when grows to long when the wind catches it feels like tiny spiders all over my legs. My leg hair is Satan. And while I don't shave daily like my teenage self did, I shave maybe twice a month. There is nothing like rubbing your freshly-shaved legs in your clean cotton/flannel sheets when getting ready for bed! My armpit hair I actually loved. I caught the most flack and eye looks over the past 2 years for it, but keep your eye balls to yourself, it's cute and fluffy. Really only my leg/belly/ facial hair bothered me. And that's that.

So however you shave or groom your body hair is your choice- no matter what part of your body it is. What someone else does with their body hair is none of your business! It might sound brash, but the none stop input on other peoples bodies has caused enough harm. It's time we stop mentioning things about other peoples bodies in that way. Compliment them on what is, not on what isn't.